Monday, October 31, 2016

Took a peek at the calendar for the week and much to my delight it's pretty EMPTY! Holy COW! I don't even know what to DO with that information! *lol*. As I mentioned in my post yesterday my life gets back to normal November 2nd. I'm 2 days early - wa-hoo! (Why November 2nd?, I hear you cry? Today, of course, is Halloween craziness and Nov 1 is my Dad's birthday … so Nov 2nd is my happy day with no other major birthdays or events until Christmas!!)

Tune in soon to see if I manage to come up with a new design for my Dad's birthday card (that reminds me … I still haven't made a card for Alicia's 11th birthday … which was Oct 5th. Oops. Mom fail! *lol*)

A fun stamp set for a tag (I used the Candy Cane Christmas set that I FINALLY convinced myself I *needed* and recently bought!) ...

… and a punch (2" circle punch)

You also need some treats. I used the Hershey Nuggets you can get in the bulk section at Save-om Foods … or Bulk Barn. They are the PERFECT size for these cello bags!

I cut the DSP into strips that were 1" wide by 3" long and applied a little snail adhesive to the strip before wrapping them around the candy. Popped 'em in the cello bag, stamped the sentiment in Early Espresso ink, punched it out and tied it with the ribbon (I used my retired crop-o-dile to make the hole in the tag and attached it to the red ribbon with a little piece of gold bakers twine.

Bam! 5 minutes TOPS to make this little cutie. Seriously. Doesn't get any easier for a GREAT little gift that EVERYONE would like to get!

Sunday, October 30, 2016

I know, I know, I've been MIA for QUITE a while this month! Not surprising to me. Every year it's like a starting pistol is fired September 1st and it's a sprint to November 2nd. IF I make it I take 10 minute break and then speed walk to December 26th. Yes, the second and third weeks of October traditionally find me hanging on by my fingertips PRAYING it all gets done … and it does :)

The last week + has had a lot of "unscheduled" things come up. I had some sort of chest virus for over a week …. then Rebecca had an infection in her earring tract (which needed surgical draining (*blech*!) … followed by HER then getting a cold/chest virus (resulting in WAY too many days off, doctors appointments, meds and stress!) and now Alicia has the flu. Add in the *joy* that is Halloween costume prep (kill me now!), field trips, volunteering at the senior home, passport renewals, stamp classes on top of all the OTHER Mom "stuff" (like keeping them in clean underwear and somewhat fed!) and … well …. you get the idea.

Such is the life of a Mom in 2016, right? On the bright side I'm learning to roll with the punches a little better as each year passes … still a ways to go, though!

So I really hart been in the Craft Cave to create for FUN for well over a week! The other day I announced I was "going down" or SOMEONE wasn't going to make it to the weekend alive! Luckily for everyone involved I created … and they were all safe for another day!

First I stamped the sentiment from Flurry of Wishes in Razzleberry ...

I then stamped the big snowflakes from Tin of Tags in Sweet Sugarplum …

The tiny snowflakes in Razzleberry are from Greeting from Santa ...

I needed a little interest, dimension and texture so I wanted to pop one of the snowflakes up. I figured I would use a circle punch … but then I realized I could use the Flower Medallion punch would work PERFECTLY for it! ...

I finished it off with three rhinestones for a little bling. Wa-low! A quick, pretty card … and my first of five for my November Christmas Stamp-a-Stack session. Woo hoo!

So that's been MY life updated for the last few weeks. Today's entertainment involves finishing Halloween costumes, pumpkin carving, sick-child-nursing, homework finishing and whatever comes my way. Hmmmm, thinking I should hit The Cave while the rest of the household is sleeping. Likely the only chance I'll get today!

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

PHEW! What a week! Been busy busy BUSY all day every day! Everything from stamp classes to nursing a chest bug of some sort to appointments for the kids to deliveries … you name it!! I made a card on Thursday for class Friday morning (cause that's how I ROLL these days *lol*) and totally LOVE how it turned out. I started off in a panic because it was 7:00 pm and I wanted to design 2 cards … but also wanted to go to bed. That is the WORST frame of mind to be in when trying to create so I gave my head a shake, took a few deep breaths and calmed down! I then figured I'd start with a "product" rather than a "layout" and go from there. I looked at the delicious Fancy Frost Specialty DSP … nope … wasn't feeling it … but I WAS feeling texture. I rummaged through my drawer of embossing folder and WHAM! Spotted a new one I bought but hadn't used yet … "Holly". Well … about 10 minutes later I was done. I just went with the flow and it all came together (and is my new favourite card *lol*). Check it out …

I ran a Whisper White layer 5" x 3 3/4" through the Holly EF. LOVE!

I wanted a clean, simple sentiment or image. Scrolled through my sets and fell upon Be Jolly, By Golly (seriously??)

I embossed the Peace on Earth sentiment in the yummy copper embossing folder I really like how the copper melts. No, they don't all melt the same - the black (retired :( ) and silver have been my favourite … and now copper jobs the list. It gives a very even melt, not "spotty" like I find the winter white melts … but I digress …

Punched the sentiment out with the (retired) 2 1/2" circle punch (quicker than using my framelits). Just needed a few embellishments. I found the new burlap ribbon pairs nicely with the copper … so on that went (with tear 'n tape). Then added a bit of copper thread (I use a bit of tape on the back of the piece, stick one one of the thread to the tape and then make circles with the thread. I use another piece of tear 'n tape to "sandwich" the thread so it stays put!) I Popped the sentiment up on dimensionals.

Needed one last pop. Found my Copper Foil Sheets ….

… (currently we can't order them - they were so popular they sold out … SU will let us know when they can be ordered again. I grabbed my Holly Berry Punch …

… punched out the holly and berries and attached them with glue dots.

Wa-low! Quick, clean, cute. LOVE!

This card was a hit at class and we'll be making it again this Friday … and maybe at my next Stamp-a-Stack. It's a keeper!

Gotta run - dinner is ready! Thanks for popping in - have a stampy evening!

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Today is "Monday" up here in Canada as yesterday was our Thanksgiving Holiday. I'm thrilled to say for ONCE I didn't eat so much that I wanted to unzip my skin! *lol*. As always, my brother was in town (from The Sunshine Coast in BC) and we were all blessed with a lovely meal at Mom and Dad's house.

I was super sick all weekend with some sort of nasty chest bug. Still coughing up a storm today but 90% better than I was! I DID manage to spend a little time in my Craft Cave (in between naps!) and, in particular, wanted to share my Star of Light Do-Over card! My Christmas Stamp-a-Stack is this Sunday morning. This was the card I had originally designed …

… but it just wasn't sitting well with me. It needed SOMETHING! I tried a few things, but they were "too much". FINALLY I struck on JUST the right balance. Ta da ….

The only thing I added was about 1 1/4"of the "Sparkle" embossing folder to the top layer. JUST enough to cut down on the "white space" but not enough to detract from the clean, simple, sophisticated look of the card.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

No time for long rambles today … tomorrow is Alicia's birthday so I need to wrap some presents! Before I do that I wanted to share my last card for my Christmas Stamp-a-Stack coming up on the 16th. Check it out!

I love it … more or less … I keep moving between love it and "it just needs a little more". Whilst I DO like me some "white space" (or vanilla space in this case lol) it just looks a LITTLE too clean to me! I think I have to go down and revisit and embossing folder or Gorgeous Grunge splotches in a very subtle solar … just a HINT of something … we'll see.

Until then, let's review how to make the card, shall we?

I started with a Very Vanilla layer of 3 1/2" x 4 3/4" and used the Star of Light Thinlits to cut out the star.

Stampin' Up! makes Christmas card making super easy with this bundle (and you save 10% when you buy the bundle!) ...

For my card I just used the thinlits …

I then punched out the inside piece using our gold glimmer paper …

I popped the vanilla layer up on dimensionals on a Cherry Cobbler layer measuring 3 3/4" x 5".

Next up I stamped the sentiment from the Tin of Tags set ...

… punched it out with my 1 3/4" circle punch and then punched a 2" circle from the gold glimmer paper. To attach the two you need to use glue dots - other adhesives don't stick to the glitter very well!

I popped the sentiment up on dimensionals, added three gold sequins from the Sequin Trim roll and wa-low! A quick, easy, sparkly card :)

Wanna see the whole batch of SAS cards we'll be making? Here y go!

I've posted all of these cards over the last few weeks. Scroll down through my older posts if you want the deets on those.

Monday, October 3, 2016

Ever have one of those days where you just seemed to take one step forward and three steps back … alllll day? Or how about days where you feel like you're walking through thick mud … everything just seems to take hours … or just spinning your wheels? That was me today. I guess at the end of the day I DID accomplish a few things bit it was a looooong, tedious process! I had NOTHING on the calendar. NADA! The plan was to rely focus on nailing my last two Christmas cards for my upcoming Stamp-a-Stack. Have I made it down to the Craft Cave yet? Have I heck! That is DEFINITELY on my "to-do-next" list … right after I share this ADORABLE card I made last night. I've had tis one in my head for a few days so it came together in about 5 minutes. Seriously.

I stamped the puppy image from Bella and Friends in Memento Black in a scrap piece of paper and punched it out with my 2" circle punch …

I used my Garden Green and Real Red markers to colour his collar and then I grabbed my Blender Pen and Smoky Slate ink to add some shading. I just used a touch of the tray under the pup and on the left hand side of her fur.

I then used my Jolly Hat Builder punch to make a Santa hat. I used my Fine Tip Glue Pen and a glue dot to put it together and then put the hat on a dimensional before putting on the pup. The entire circle is popped up on dimensionals as well.

I toyed with not having a sentiment on the front at all … but then my eyes fell on my Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set and it used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to place it just so, using Memento Black ink.

A single rhinestone on her furry little butt finishes it off.

Bam! Done! … bad my third card for the Stamp-a-Stack is done!

That's it for today! Don't forget the 25% off select items sale is on until Wednesday night … and the Buy 3 Get 1 Free on DSP is in effect all month long. Message me if I can help you with your project supply list!

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Oooooo it's a cold, wet one here in Edmonton this morning .. LOVE it! Yes, "Sweater Weather" for SURE this week. PERFECT excuse to stay tucking inside making cards! (Like I need an excuse *lol*). Need an even BETTER excuse?? How about World Card Making Day?? Yup. There's a day for that! Stampin' Up! says it perfectly …

Do you remember the last time you received a card in the mail? In a sea of junk mail and bills, a card is a simple thing that really stands out to the person who receives it. Sending a card is a small gesture that shows just how much you care about that special someone in your life. With World Card Making Day coming up on October 1, celebrate by making and sending a handmade card to someone who could use a little recognition, love, or just a boost (which is anyone, really!)

At the beginning of September I mailed out about eight handmade cards for birthdays, congratulations and sympathy. I received four Facebook messages thanking me and telling me how it brightened their day. What a great feeling for ME knowing that I miles someone a smile. THAT'S what it's about. It doesn't just say "Happy Birthday", it says "You are my friend, in this busy world we live in I a) REMEMBERED it was your birthday b) made that fact important enough for me to plan ahead and mail a card that c) I took 10 minutes OUT of my schedule to let you know how important you are to me". THAT'S what mailing a card says. Time is the most precious commodity we have these days. Telling someone they are important to you and that you will spend that commodity on them … well … it matters.

Mail a card to someone you love today - just because :)

To help spread the love SU had a 25% off sale on select card making staples … but only until Oct 5!

In addition to the 25% off sale there is a promotion on all $14.50 Designer Series Papers for the month of October. Buy 3, get 1 free (so essentially 25% off that as well *lol*)

If you are in Canada and would like to order through my online store to have your items sent directly to you door you can do so here. If your order is under $200 enter hostess code T7D47D7Eat the checkout to be entered into my draw for free product! (If your order is $200 or more then YOU are the hostess and get to scoop the free spending!)

I'm off to take Rebecca to her sewing class which means I have two hours to sit and get caught up on things. Todays mission is put together my Stitched With Love Christmas Card Kit. I LOVE having two hours of uninterrupted time to "work"!

About Me

Hello!
I am a SAHM to two GREAT kids, a wife to a GREAT man and a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I LOVE all things crafty and I absolutely LOVE what I do! Please know that the content in this blog is my sole respoinsibility as an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and the use of and content of this blog is not endorsed by Stampin' Up!
Thank you for popping in - I hope you find a project you like and leave inspired!